Militants holed up in Indian army camp in Kashmir

JAMMU, India — Indian army soldiers traded fire with armed militants Saturday inside an army camp in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said.

The gunmen were holed up in the residential area of the camp where soldiers and their families are housed, police chief of the Jammu area S.D. Jamwal told reporters outside the camp.

Jamwal said one soldier and his daughter were wounded in the attack. It was unclear how many militants were involved in the assault that began early Saturday morning.

The camp is located on the outskirts of the city of Jammu. The area was cordoned off as intermittent firing continued more than six hours into midday Saturday.

Schools in the area were closed.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and archrival and neighbour Pakistan. Both claim the region in its entirety.

Several militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. Around 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population, with most people supporting the rebel cause.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the militants, a charge Islamabad denies.